Identify your target user experience

When designing your gaming experience using Google Play Instant,
consider how you'd like players to interact with it.

You can make your entire game available without installation, which is a great
way for players to enjoy your game with the least amount of friction. If you
aren't able to make the entire game available, you can also create one of the
types of experiences described in this section.

Be deliberate when building out your instant experience. In doing so, you'll
increase your reach by providing value to your gamers.

Preregistration

You can deploy a Google Play Instant experience as part of a
preregistration campaign for an upcoming release. You can use this experience to
help generate signups, perform A/B testing of features, and share teaser content
to prospective players.

Players launch this experience from the Play Store details page, which is also
where they preregister for the game.

Introductory gameplay

The Google Play Instant experience is built around the first few levels
of the game, or the game's tutorial, with minimal changes to the player's
experience. When players install the game from the instant experience, you can
transfer their current progression.

Core gameplay

The Google Play Instant experience provides a preview of what players
see after they complete the tutorial and introductory levels. This pattern is
particularly effective when combined with the best practice of saving players'
progress after they install the full game.

New gameplay types or levels

Games can experience player abandonment as they mature. These players may have
either finished the current game, exhausted all the current features, or dropped
off for a variety of other reasons. Google Play Instant is a great way
to re-engage these players by showing them what more they can experience with
your game. These new experiences might include new levels or changed game
mechanics.

Minigame

The Google Play Instant experience complements the installed version of
your game. This experience often contains different gameplay elements and might
be more simplistic.

Cross-promotion and ads

Several types of campaigns—including ad campaigns and cross-promotional ad
campaigns—can launch players directly into the Google Play Instant
experience instead of the static Google Play Store details page.

These experiences include the following:

Ad campaigns.

Cross-promotional ad campaigns: Advertising one of your games within one
of your other games.

Polish the end-to-end experience

This section provides some suggestions for optimizing the end-to-end experience
for players who interact with your game on Google Play Instant. You
should make sure that your instant experience starts quickly from a variety of
entry points, and you should encourage players to graduate out of the experience
by installing a full version of your game.

Start the experience quickly

Games on Google Play Instant use an immersive, arcade-like animation as a
loading screen to keep players engaged while the game loads.

If you must display an additional loading screen in the game, try to show it for
as short a time period as possible.

Keep the back button enabled

Figure 2. Back button warning dialog (Bubble Witch 3 Saga)

Because it's possible to run games on Google Play Instant by simply
clicking a link, some players might run them accidentally. These players need a
way to exit the game.

Don't disable the Android back button at the bottom of the screen. Instead, show
a warning when it's pressed to alert players they're about to exit the game.
It's a good practice to not disrupt established navigational patterns.

Provide an installation prompt

You should provide a way for players to install the game should they decide they
want to continue to play locally. Typically, you use an Install button. You
can show this button in a variety of locations:

On screen permanently.

Between levels.

As part of the main menu.

The screenshots in Figure 3 present examples of possible Install button
locations. The screenshot in Figure 4 demonstrates the in-app installation
experience that occurs after players tap a given Install button.

Preserve user state after installation

Ensure players' progress and achievements are saved and available after
installation. They should be able to continue playing where they left off when
they decided to install.

Make your game viral

Some of the best players are acquired organically through recommendations from
existing players. Google Play Instant can bridge the installation gap
between one friend recommending a game and another friend trying it out for the
first time.

Invitations

In games that support multiplayer gameplay, existing players expect to be able
to send a link to their friends. Using the link, these friends can then join the
player's team or engage in a contest.

Several examples of invitations include the following:

Multiplayer invite: A player clicks a social invite link from
their friend. Instead of waiting for the game to install, the player is launched
into a Google Play Instant experience and can start playing with their
friend immediately. After the round finishes, the friend sees a prompt to
install the game.

Team or clan invite: A player shares an invite to join their team or
clan with a friend. The friend taps on the invite, and a
Google Play Instant experience starts that is specialized for the invite.
After accepting the invite, the friend is prompted to install the game.

Figure 5. Trophy-based sharing screen (Bubble Witch 3 Saga)

Gameplay sharing

Existing players might also want to send a link to their friends to showcase
their in-game achievements. Common types of achievements include the following:

Share game replay: A player shares a big victory with their friends
through a link. The friend taps on the link and launches the
Google Play Instant experience, which replays the victory and then
prompts them to install the game.

Trophy: A player acquires a new in-game asset or trophy and wants to
show it off to their friend, which they can do using a screen similar to the one
in Figure 5. When the friend taps on a link to the trophy, a
Google Play Instant experience launches, allowing them to explore the
game reward in detail. When the friend views the reward, they're prompted to
install the game.

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